2013 NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 10 (Nov. 12)

Top three hold steady for a fourth-straight week

November 12, 2013

By Alan Grosbach, Manager of Communications and Sports Information

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Concordia (Ore.) holds the No. 1 ranking in the 10th regular-season edition of the 2013 NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The Cavaliers, who are making their 20th all-time appearance at No. 1, received 19 first-place votes and 560 points in this week’s edition.

The 2013 NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Final Top 25 Poll will be released Sunday at 4 p.m. CST, following the completion of the conference, independent and unaffiliated group tournaments. The final NAIA Women’s Soccer Modified Ratings Percentage Index (MRPI) and 32-team national championship field will be announced Sunday at 7 p.m., with the official bracket coming Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. via a graphical video show on www.naia.org.

Concordia improved to 16-1-1 on the season after knocking off Southern Oregon, 2-0, last Saturday in the semifinals of the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Women’s Soccer Championship, presented by U.S. Bank. With a win on Saturday against Northwest (Wash.), the Cavaliers will claim the CCC’s automatic berth and extend their streak of national championship appearances to 13-straight.

No. 2 Northwood (Fla.) and No. 3 Westmont (Calif.) retained their spots for the third-straight week with 540 points and 525 points, respectively. The Seahawks, who received the final first-place vote in this week’s poll, defeated then-No. 4 Embry-Riddle (Fla.), 2-0, in The Sun Conference’s (TSC) regular-season championship match. With the win, Northwood receives the league’s first of two automatic berths and does not have to play in the conference tournament.

Westmont, the No. 2 seed in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Tournament, downed then-No. 11 Vanguard (Calif.), 4-0, in the GSAC Tournament semifinals on Nov. 8. The Warriors travel to GSAC top-seed and national No. 6 Concordia (Calif.) on Friday to decide the conference crown.

Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) accumulated 497 points en route to the No. 4 ranking this week – one spot up from last week’s edition. The Blue Raiders won their Mid-South Conference Tournament first-round match in dominating fashion over Shawnee State (Ohio), 6-0. Lindsey Wilson returns to the pitch in the conference tournament semifinals Thursday against Georgetown (Ky.).

No. 5 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) rounds out the top five with 494 points. The Eagles, who suffered a one-spot drop after their previously-mentioned loss to Northwood, downed SCAD Savannah (Ga.), 3-0, in the TSC tournament semifinals. Embry-Riddle hosts No. 11 St. Thomas (Fla.) Friday in the tournament championship.

No. 21 Benedictine (Kan.) and No. 23 Georgia Gwinnett – newcomers in last week’s Coaches’ Poll – made the largest improvement within the Top 25, each jumping two places. Benedictine opens Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament action against MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) on Wednesday, while Georgia Gwinnett plays Cal State San Marcos on Friday in the Association of Independent Institutions Tournament.

No. 25 Kansas Wesleyan, who was last ranked in the second regular-season edition, is this edition’s lone newcomer. The Coyotes won the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season crown and open tournament action Friday against Southwestern (Kan.).

Fourteen conferences/independent/unaffiliated groups are represented throughout the Top 25, led by four programs from the GSAC – Westmont, Concordia (Calif.), No. 13 Vanguard (Calif.) and No. 16 The Master’s (Calif.).

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independent/unaffiliated groups. For the complete women’s soccer ratings calendar, click here.

For complete schedule and score information for various conference tournaments, click here.

Notes (All information dates back to 1999): Concordia (Ore.) receives its fourth-straight and 20th overall No. 1 ranking this week – third on the NAIA’s all-time list … Three other teams have held the No.1 ranking this season: Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Vanguard (Calif.) and Embry-Riddle (Fla.) …Lindsey Wilson leads all NAIA schools with 48 all-time No. 1 rankings, followed by former member Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (32) … Overall, 13 different programs have claimed the No. 1 spot in the poll … Lindsey Wilson also owns the longest active streak of consecutive appearances in the Top 25 with 160-consecutive mentions, including a string of 130-straight top 10 rankings … Concordia owns the second longest active streak at 140-straight polls … Davenport’s (Mich.) No. 7 ranking on Sept. 17 is the highest in program history … Northwood (Fla.) is spending its fourth-straight week at No. 2 – its highest mention dating back to 1999 … Westmont’s No. 3 ranking in the fifth regular-season edition was its first top three mention since Sept. 13, 2006 …Fourteen of the 21 conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups are represented in the 10th regular-season Top 25 … Thirty-eight teams have been ranked through 10 polls in 2013.